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I'm particularly excited because today we're launching ViiV Healthcare, a worldwide HIV specialist company resulting from a combined effort by GSK and Pfizer.  

In my various roles at GSK, I've had some very interesting windows through which I've been able to view our HIV business.   In the beginning--before I worked in HIV--I looked at the disease as so many people do.   I only knew what I read in newspapers and had a very third-person, far removed perspective. 

But that changed a year ago when I joined GSK's HIV communications team and learned about the real impact of this disease.  I became much more passionate about disease prevention, awareness, education, and treatment.  Soon I was attending HIV congresses and meetings, and learning more directly about how this disease affects people.

I could see the sense of urgency in their eyes when they talked about HIV treatments, and their hopes for ever-better treatments in the future.  Suddenly, HIV was a whole lot more real to me, and I was more passionate than ever about working in this arena. 

Now GSK and Pfizer are launching ViiV Healthcare, which seeks to address important issues such as the need for innovative research and improved access for patients. 

The central proposition behind ViiV Healthcare is extremely exciting:  a robust HIV company with a solid pipeline and deep expertise, but structured to be a smaller and more nimble organization that can respond faster to the changing needs of HIV patients. 

I wish everyone at ViiV Healthcare the very best in their new venture.  They're doing something that I believe will have a significant impact on how we deal with HIV across the globe.  And how can you not be excited by something like that?

Big news in HIV/AIDS today!

For the first time, an experimental HIV vaccine seems to cut the risk of infection, researchers say. The vaccine--which was a combination of two earlier experimental vaccines--was given to about 16,000 people in Thailand, in the largest vaccine trial of its type.

(Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)

Today GSK is announcing new standards for funding accredited, continuing medical education for healthcare professionals.  These are the programs that doctors and other healthcare professionals must take to maintain their licenses and hospital privileges.

Some critics believe the pharmaceutical industry should no longer subsidize these programs.  But we at GSK believe that we have a legitimate role to play in supporting education for healthcare professionals that enhances their knowledge and competence to best prevent, diagnose and treat disease.

The goal of these new funding standards is to increase the quality of medical education programs.  We want to demonstrate that they are improving care for patients.

This means that in 2010, GSK will invite grant applications from about 20 medical education providers with strong track records for delivering high quality programs.  We will no longer fund programs offered by commercial providers but will continue to fund offerings from academic medical centers and their affiliated teaching and patient care institutions.  We will also work with national-level professional medical associations to deliver accredited programs.

This is one more step in our efforts to be more transparent about the way we operate our business and interact with healthcare providers.

Adam Yauch (MCA from the Beastie Boys) announced via a YouTube video that also appeared on the band's website that he has cancer in his parotid gland and a lymph node.  It was caught early and he seemed very positive about his upcoming treatment.

The video was recorded in a music studio, with Adam "Ad Rock" Horovitz and is incredibly informal, immediate, and light-hearted(ish).  Glad to see that even in stressful times, the Boys can find the humor.

Wishing you a speedy recovery, MCA.  And to everyone else, if you feel something weird, get it checked out, yo.

Last week the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced it has raised the current level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 5 to phase 6.

As mentioned a few months ago on this blog, we're working closely with public health authorities to help address this pandemic.

From a GSK corporate press release issued last week:

"Following receipt of the seed strain from the WHO at the end of May, the company has begun the process necessary for development of the new vaccine at both the Canadian and German manufacturing sites.  The first step for manufacturing an influenza vaccine is to prepare the seed strain for production, which will take several weeks.  The company will then start production of the new candidate A (H1N1) influenza vaccine.  The first doses of the A (H1N1) vaccine antigen are expected to be available in four to six months time, subject to regulatory approval.

GSK remains committed to supporting governments and health authorities around the world respond to the emergence of the new A (H1N1) influenza virus, including addressing the needs of developing countries.  GSK has offered to convert its intended donation to the WHO of 50 million doses of H5N1 pre-pandemic vaccine to the new candidate A (H1N1) adjuvanted influenza vaccine once production begins.  As capacity increases, GSK will supply the vaccine to developing countries under a tiered-pricing policy based on World Bank classifications and GAVI eligibility." 

In addition to our work in flu, as a global pharmaceutical company that makes and markets several critical medicines for serious chronic and even deadly diseases, we also have an obligation to ensure our manufacturing and supply chains continue to operate effectively through this health crisis.  GSK teams are now implementing carefully-developed plans to help continue an un-interrupted supply of these medicines to the people that need them throughout the world.

Stay tuned for future updates.

Over the weekend, a swine flu virus, influenza A (H1N1) strain, has appeared in Mexico, the United States of America, Canada, France, Spain and New Zealand.  The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that the current situation constitutes a public health emergency of international concern, and they have raised their level of influenza surveillance globally. 

At this point, we, as a company, are not activating our full pandemic preparedness plans in Mexico and the US. GSK has implemented the preliminary parts of its plan in Mexico City.  We are reviewing our crisis, continuity, and pandemic preparedness plans across the business to prepare for implementation if needed. 

What you can do:  

Stay calm and informed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have posted general information on swine flu. If you develop signs and symptoms of flu (rapid onset of fever, joint and muscle aches, headache, etc), stay home and contact your doctor within 24 hours to determine if treatment is needed.

GSK continues to closely monitor the situation with the WHO and other national agencies, and stands ready to initiate discussions with local authorities for the manufacture of a vaccine to help prevent this new influenza strain, once a suitable candidate vaccine strain is available from the WHO.  

The World Health Organizations's World Health Day 2009, which is today, focuses on the safety of health facilities and the readiness of health workers who treat those affected by emergencies. Underscoring the urgency of this message are the real-time efforts of relief workers desperately trying to find and care for survivors of the earthquake in Italy yesterday.  As of 3.49 GMT, there were 207 fatalities, 150 people were rescued, 1,000 were injured, and 17,000 left homeless.

Making the timing of this even more surreal than World Health Day is the fact that many eyes are traditionally on Italy this week--the week before Easter.  Although many Italians--and one could assume tourists--are displaced and injured, and so many historic buildings were ruined or severely damaged, the government has so far said it does not need any foreign aid.

GSK is monitoring the situation to see if and how we can be of assistance.  

Well it's official, again.  We have a new nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services.  Today, as expected, President Barack Obama officially nominated Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

HHS is an enormous department, including FDA, CMS, CDC, NIH, and the Office of Public Health and Science--just to name a few--and Sebelius will be responsible for implementing the President's healthcare vision.  If you think about it, she is in charge of disease prevention, intervention, and innovation--the three things that might just help us out of our healthcare mess if we give them the right attention!

As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebelius "will work with Democrats and Republicans alike to cut costs, expand access, and improve the quality of healthcare for all Americans."

It is a huge task, but Sebelius seems prepared for it.

The President also named Nancy-Ann DeParle, one of the nation's leading experts on healthcare and regulatory issues, as Counselor to the President and Director of the White House Office for Health Reform.  From the White House press release:

"As commissioner of the Department of Human Services in Tennessee, she saw firsthand the health care system's impact on workers and families. In the Clinton Administration, DeParle handled budget matters for federal health care programs, and took on the tremendous task of managing Medicare and Medicaid."

It's a huge issue, and we wish both of them the best of luck--with the hope that they focus on what is really driving our health problems and healthcare costs...chronic diseases.